Trials: Aftermath
by Anime Student
Summary: This story explores my take on what happened to Marco during the 16 years he was gone and the aftermath that ensued. It will feature heavy Marcapoo and one sided Jarco and Starco with a progressive-ish StarTom. this story will be very dark and heavy and may end up including lemons later on. You have been warned.
1. Chapter 1

**This is just in case I write a shitty summary for the story. This will be a Marcapoo story and it will be a dark and heavy story that explores my take on what exactly happened during the 16 years Marco was gone and the after effects. Obviously, this story has been rated M for the content it will cover. Lemons are a possibility but not a guarantee. Anyways, enjoy.**

Chapter 1

"Where did you get these scissors?"

"It could take days, weeks, months, years, decades, even lifetimes."

"Just give up now."

"Marco?"

"Run kid, RUN!"

"Why do you keep this up?"

"I love you."

"General, what would you have us do?"

"Thalia!"

"Teach me, please."

"Took you long enough Marco, I was starting to think you had forgotten about me."

"See ya soon."

Suddenly, a pair of brown eyes opened in fear and scanned the immediate surroundings. It was pitch black but he could still make out where he was. And he wasn't sure what was worse; the fact that he had been waking so abruptly for the past few days, or, that he kept waking up back on Earth, in his old body. Deciding to distract himself from answering that question, the boy got up from the bed dressed in his signature red hoodie and running shorts, and exited the house silently.

It was still very early in the morning, the sun had yet to appear and the neighborhood seemed dead to anyone watching. This did not deter the boy, if anything, it seemed to calm him. He just ran straight down the street, not making any turns, knowing if he did, he was not likely to find his way back. He had only been back for a few days so it was hard for him to remember exactly where his house was.

After an hour or so of running, the boy took a break and sat down on the sidewalk to catch his breath and analyze his surroundings. Its what he was trained to do, at least what he was trained to do in the other timeline. Heckapoo's timeline. His timeline. With that final thought he got back up and headed back in the direction he came. Luckily for him, as he was approaching the house, the sun had risen enough for him to make out more distinct features of each home. He recognized the Diaz household by the small tower sticking out from the left side of the house.

 _Star's room. It still looks the same after….a few days. Remember Marco, its only been a few days for them. You were only gone for 8 minutes in their time. But, was it for the best?_ With a shake of his head, he headed back inside of the house and decided to finish his workout in the backyard. _Might as well. Not like I'm going back to sleep anytime soon._

2 hours later

Star was waking up in her room and stretched her arms out before getting out of bed deciding to go check on Marco. _I wonder if he's up yet? I got up a little early so I might have caught him asleep._ She walked into his room with these thoughts in her head, yet rather than being greeted by the sight of her friend asleep in his room, she saw he was just exiting the bathroom, apparently already ready for the day.

"Hey Marco! How long have you been up for?" she asked with a goofy smile on her face as she sat on his bed.

"Oh hey Star. I've been up for a few hours now. Couldn't really sleep that well so I decided to go out for a run and do some light exercises in the back yard." He said nonchalantly, acting as if it was a normal thing for him to be doing.

"Umm…..Are you ok, Marco?" Star asked, this time with a slightly worried look on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now come on, lets get something to eat!" He said with a fake smile on his face, and Star could tell but she decided to leave it, trusting in his judgement. With that they both went downstairs and were greeted by the sight of his parents preparing some food for breakfast.

"Hola mijo! Hola Star! How did the both of you sleep?" asked Mr. Diaz as he finished cooking some pancakes for the four of them to eat. Marco sat down and Star sat next to him, sending the occasional glance his way.

"We both slept well, thanks for asking dad." Marco said, just staring off into the distance as he played with a butter knife with his right hand. It was due to this that he didn't notice someone sneaking up behind him . However, he felt a hand go into his left hand pocket and he immediately reacted on instinct.

Within the blink of an eye he had grabbed the arm turned around, kicked the assailants legs from under them and pressed the knife to their neck. He narrowed his eyes and began to press the knife harder against their neck.

"MARCO STOP!" Immediately Marco's eyes widened and he realized who he had just attacked. Star had shown him a photo of her to help him try and remember everything from before the trial. It was Janna, except instead of arrogance in her eyes, there was nothing but fear, pure fear. The boy she had known since childhood, the Safe Kid, was pressing a knife to her neck and looked as though he was about to kill her.

He removed the knife from her neck and stepped away from her, his hands were shaking and he seemed as though he was about to hyperventilate. _I nearly killed her! I nearly killed a child who I knew for a good portion of my life before the trial._

"Marco Ubaldo Diaz! What possessed you to do that?! Where did you even learn to do that?!" yelled his mother as she went over to comfort Janna and make sure she was alright. Janna was just holding her neck staring at him with tears in her eyes as she tried to understand what had just happened.

"I…..I….I didn't mean to. It was just…..a reflex." Marco tried to say as he dropped the knife and stared at his hands. _Why….why is this happening? I'm trying to be normal again….normal for them but the real me is still here. This isn't me. These puny hands aren't mine. This body isn't mine. This life isn't mine!_

Star began to cautiously walk towards him, now extremely worried about him and his state of mind. She assumed he was fine but maybe, the trial hit him harder than she thought. If only she knew that she could never truly understand how much that trial had changed him. Just what hell he had gone through.

"Marco?...Are you….are you ok?" She spoke loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her but Marco didn't register a thing she said. He was covering his eyes with his hands and his body was shaking as though he were in serious pain. She reached out for his shoulder with her right hand but mere inches away from touching him, he finally reacted.

 _Meanwhile with Heckapoo in 3 minutes_

Currently, Lady Heckapoo was at a Magic High Council meeting with the other members to discuss any current threats to the realms and the like. She was listening to Rhombulus justifying the 27 'evil' threats he had crystallized the week before, despite the fact that it was very clear that at least half of them were simply take out employees that delivered food to him. Just as she was dozing off, she could feel her mark burn on the back of her neck. And with that burn she could feel a certain earth boy's emotions. She could feel his pain and fear and she knew she had to go to him. She knew he needed her.

Quickly and subtly, she created a clone to take her place while she opened a portal and headed towards Earth to find her and hopefully stop her idiot from doing something he would undoubtedly regret.

 _Hold on Marco! I'm coming for ya! Just hang in there, please, hang in there._ She said through her mark as she pushed her thoughts and emotions through it to reach him in an effort to comfort and stop him.

 _Back on Earth 3 minutes ago_

Just before Star could touch his shoulder, Marco quickly ducked under her arm, picked up the knife and jumped up onto the table nearby before sprinting out to the back of the house. Everyone quickly regained their bearings and chased after him, with Janna falling behind both of Marco's parents with hesitation heavy in her stride.

When they reached the backyard, they saw Marco just standing there facing them with the butter knife in one hand and his dimension scissors in the other. His eyes showed clear confusion and hostility towards them as he slid into a defensive stance.

"Marco, mijo, what's wrong? Talk to us!" begged his mother as she tried to walk towards him but in seeing him tense further with each step she took towards him, she took a few steps back, hoping some space might calm him. Marco did not respond them, he simply continued to stare at each of them, as though he were expecting to be attacked.

Then, all of a sudden, an orange portal appeared in between Marco and the group, causing an immediate change in facial expression from Marco, one of relief and joy, which served only to confuse everyone present. Heckapoo then stepped out of the portal and turned to face Marco with a sad smile on her face.

"Hey Muscles, need a hand?" she asked in a soft voice as she approached him. She could tell from the emotions he was putting out that he was under severe distress and she couldn't say she was surprised, after all they had predicted this would likely happen.

"H-Poo….is that really you? Please let that really be you." There was such desperation and pain in his voice that it broke his family and friend's hearts hearing him this way. Tears were now openly flowing down his cheeks as he began lowering his weapons.

"Of course its me ya dummy. I know you have your Earth timeline body right now but your mark should still be there telling you I'm right here in front of you." She reached out with her hand and caressed his cheek in an effort to comfort him. It clearly worked since he closed his eyes and moved into her embrace, dropping the knife but keeping a firm grip on his scissors. He cried into her chest as she held him, despite how awkward it felt for him to now be shorter than her again.

"Please….please tell me this is some sort of spell I'm under. Please tell me I'm not actually back on Earth right now. Please tell me I didn't just try to attack my friends and family! Please….tell me I'm not exactly what I feared I would become…." Sobbed out Marco as he tried to search for some justification for what he just did. Trying to find some form of reassurance that he didn't actually try to take out his childhood friend for trying to pickpocket him. All Heckapoo could do was hold him tight and try to calm him with the mark. Luckily for her, he was both emotionally and physically exhausted so he easily accepted the effects of the mark and fell asleep in her embrace.

All the while, Star, Janna, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz were crying at seeing Marco in such a state and wondering what this woman was doing with him and why he felt so at peace around her. Just her presence alone calmed him down from whatever state he was in to the point that he was resting in her arms.

Seeing them staring at the both of them and knowing Marco needed some rest Heckapoo created two more clones and carried Marco through her portal while the two clones stayed behind to try and explain the situation to the 4 people present and give Marco some time to regain his bearings.

"I know you all must have questions and you deserve answers. I promise I'll tell you all I can for now, but there are plenty of things that only Marco has the right to tell you. Now Star, if you would be so kind as to bring out a few chairs, this could take a little while." With that, Star created 6 chairs for them all to sit on, with four chairs facing two chairs which would be where the Heckapoo's would sit.

Once everyone was seated, the Heckapoo's drew a deep breath and sighed.

"From your perspective, this all started a few days ago, now as I said I will tell you what I can but want you all to simply listen until I finish, am I understood?" Four nods were all the answers she needed.

"Alright, it started with a stolen pair of scissors…."

 **Alright, obviously this chapter is ending on a bit of a cliffhanger but hey, I felt like this was a good place to end it and allows for me to pick off where I want on the next chapter. This my first Svtfoe story I've written and will likely be the only one I write. If you check my profile you'll see I have other stories that I haven't finished or updated in years. Shit happened, I stopped writing and reading for a while but I'm back and I guess this could be just a warm up for me before I continue those other stories. Either way thanks for reading this far and expect the next chapter to be out as soon as the next week and as late as within the next month. It all depends.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright so hopefully by the time I finish this chapter and upload it, it won't have been too long since my last chapter. Hopefully. Either way it is what it is. Now this is going to start off basically with Heckapoo already informing the group about the gist of what happened and what is going on with Marco but the main gritty details are up to Marco to tell. Also, he won't tell them everything from the get go. I'll include flashbacks here and there explaining people he encounters later on with the group and explaining certain events that'll happen later on. With that in mind, let's get the show on the road.**

Chapter 2

"….And Marco left with Star to come back to Earth's timeline, and in doing so, his body reverted back to what it was when he had left. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his memories. He still has all the memories he made during his time in the trial, which is more than likely what led to his mental breakdown today." Explained the remaining Heckapoo clone. During her explanation, she had shown her audience that by blowing out a clone's flame, it would cause them to dissipate from existence. This only really surprised Marco's parents and Janna, but they took it in stride considering all the other stuff they've seen Star do.

By the end of the story, both of Marco's parents were in tears at hearing that their baby boy had spent over a decade and half fighting for his life to earn a pair of fancy scissor. Janna was skeptical but still a little shaken up at the news. Star, on the other hand, seemed to take the news the hardest. She didn't realize exactly how bad Marco could have been affected by the trial until now. Her best friend spent years trying to get her scissors back and along the way had seen terrible, traumatizing things that no one should have been exposed to. She blamed herself for Marco's state of mind. How could she not have realized this sooner?

 _How could I have been so stupid? He was gone for 16 years! He even said so himself! And I just wrote him off as being overdramatic because for me it had only been a few minutes! How…How could I have done this to him…Marco…_ Tears were pouring down her cheeks as Star buried her face in her hands, trying and failing to control her sobbing.

Seeing their sorrowful states, the Heckapoo clone tried to offer some consolation in an effort to comfort them.

"Look, with some time and care, I'm sure Marco will be fine." Heckapoo stated with an awkward smile on her face. However, her attempt at comfort, did not help the situation.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT! FROM WHAT YOU'VE JUST TOLD US, MY BABY BOY SPENT 16 YEARS IN ANOTHER DIMENSION! WHO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM DURING THAT TIME?!" cried out Mrs. Diaz as she held onto her husband for support, who was not fairing much better than her at the moment.

"I know most of what happened to him during those 16 years. It is my duty to monitor those that are undergoing my challenge, so I've seen most of the things he went through. I would tell you exactly what happened to him over those years, but it is not my place to say. It is up to him to tell you about his experiences." Stated Heckapoo as she stood up from the chair and stretched her arms. She began to walk towards the portal and stopped just beside it before turning back to face them.

"Right about now, Marco should be waking up with the original Heckapoo there with him. I think…he would want you all there when he wakes up. He'll want to apologize and I'm sure he'll want to answer any questions you have for him. If you do come, please don't overwhelm him. If he asks to skip that question or if there is a topic he doesn't want to talk about, then please, let it go. He'll tell you when the time is right for him." With that said, the clone went through the portal, hoping that they would follow after her, for Marco's sake.

With her gone, the group just sat in silence for a few minutes, not knowing what they should do. Should they go see their friend/son, or should they wait for him to come to them. They didn't even know if he would want to see them or if would be safe for them if they went considering his recent outburst. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Mr. Diaz finally broke the silence.

"I don't know if this flame woman is to be trusted, especially given what has happened to our son, but….I think she is right. We should be there for Marco when he wakes up. He needs his familia." A determined look made its way on his face as he dried his tears and dried his wife's tears and looked her in the eye. "He needs us. Let's go help our son."

"I…I'll go with you…it's my fault this happened…I owe him at least that much." It seemed as though Rafael's determination was quite infectious as Star adopted his same look of determination, but if one were to look a little deeper, you could clearly see the pain hiding just under the surface.

"I'll catch up with you guys later… Someone needs to tell Jackie about this." Stated Janna as she got up and started dialing Jackie's number. Everyone suddenly realized that Jackie hadn't seen Marco since he got back and that she knew nothing about what happened. A part of them envied her for that but knew that in just a few minutes, that innocence would be shattered. All they could do was try to be there for her once Marco tried to explain everything to her.

"Oh…I completely forgot about Jackie…How is she going to handle this? And…what does this mean for her and Marco?" asked Star as she gripped her wand tighter, continuing to blame herself for the added pain that was befalling those she cared for. _This is all because of me…_

"I honestly don't know how she'll handle it…but knowing her…she'll want to go see him once I tell her. Just leave the portal open for us and we'll meet up with you." With that said Janna called Jackie and told her to meet her at Marco's place immediately, it was an emergency and it had to do with Marco. While she told her that, Star, Rafael, and Angie walked through the portal to go see Marco.

 _Kassius Dimension_

Stepping out of the portal, the three were greeted with the sight of what appeared to be the inside of a small house. It seemed to have been devoid of life for a quite a while based on the cobwebs and dust that had accumulated. Angie let out a few coughs as some dust entered her lungs. This immediately alerted Heckapoo to their presence and she popped her head out from behind a wall to their right.

"You all came…well all but one but still…thank you." She said to them with a small but genuine smile on her face as she came out from behind the wall. Instead of wearing her normal clothing, She was now wearing a pair of pajama shorts with the same color scheme as her dress and one of Marco's trade mark hoodies. Except on the front of this hoodie it clearly read 'My Flame Empress'.

"He's right over here…he's still resting, but, I can tell he's about to wake up. Also, I've taken the liberty of returning him to the body he's most comfortable in. I do have to warn you though, he's quite the looker." She said light heartedly to improve the mood as she motioned for them to come closer. As they passed the wall that had initially separated them from Heckapoo, they saw that there was a rather large bed behind it, and on that bed, was Marco Ubaldo Diaz, sound asleep. And much older than either of his parents had ever seen him.

Their eyes widened as they saw his now adult body. He had clearly taken over his father in the muscle department, which filled Rafael with quite a bit of pride, before causing both of his parents and Star to gasp as they saw all the scars covering his body. _Oh Dios mio. What has our little baby gone through? What could possibly leave something like that?_

 _I didn't even notice these the last time I saw him! Was…was he really this badly scarred? How much do I really know about you now Marco? I'm so sorry…_ The three of them all looked horrified and once again on the brink of tears after looking at the mature Marco. And their worst shared thought was that these were only the scars they could see. What else had he gone through?

Without warning, Heckapoo climbed into the bed with Marco and straddled him in front of everyone, causing a certain princess to blush like a tomato alongside the parents. Before anyone could say anything, Heckapoo brought her lips to his forehead, leaving a brief mark before disappearing. As she pulled away from him, his eyes began to slowly open and the first thing he saw was the only person he needed to see. A smile made its way onto his face as he saw his heart in front of him.

"Hola, mi amor." As soon as those words left his lips, Heckapoo blushed brighter than the flame on the top of her head, which had now formed the shape of a heart and was burning bright. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her arm and brought her close to him, meeting her mouth with his for a passionate kiss between lovers. She immediately melted into his kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. After a few moments, they pulled away from each other, love clearly shining from each other's eyes.

"You won't believe the nightmare I just had. Get this, I was apparently back on Earth with my parents and friends. It was insanely real too! It's been years since I remembered their faces or voices that clearly. And well…" His face slowly shifted from contentment to one of horror as he slowly turned away from Heckapoo and looked around the room to see his family and Star standing not 5 feet away from them. "Oh fuck…it wasn't a nightmare was it?"

 _Back on Earth, in front of the Diaz household_

Right outside of the Diaz household, it could be seen that a certain blonde skater was arriving. As soon as she made it to the driveway, she jumped off her board and headed to the door and began knocking frantically with a devastated look in her eye and tears rushing down her cheeks. Janna had called her a few minutes ago, telling her there was an emergency and that it involved Marco. She immediately assumed the worst and rushed over so fast, she didn't even grab her helmet. Instead of receiving an answer at the door, like she had expected, she heard Janna call her over from the side of the house.

"Jackie! Over here! Meet me in the back!" yelled Janna as she disappeared from the side of the house motioning for Jackie to follow her. Jackie immediately rushed after her. When she finally caught up to Janna she noticed the large orange red portal in the backyard and a few abandoned chairs nearby it.

"Janna? Where's Marco?" pleaded Jackie as she gripped onto Janna's hoody with tears in her eyes. Janna avoided her gaze and looked to the ground as she unconsciously reached for her neck. It was still red and raw from what happened.

"Jackie…He…He's alive…but…something happened to him a few days ago…and…I don't know if he's our Marco anymore…" Tears were now pouring down Janna's eyes as well as she thought about her childhood friend. How his eyes used to be filled with such joy and comfort, instead of the anger and pain she saw. "I don't know who he is anymore."

 _Back in the Kassius Dimension_

Marco was now dressed in a robe made of some kind of dragon hide, in an effort to hide his scars from the three remnants of his past, and was grabbing a drink from the fridge. Heckapoo was humming in the kitchen as she prepared some tea for her guests. It made Marco smile hearing her angelic tunes. It reminded him of a certain morning after finishing some quests for the guild. As quickly as the smile came, it left, in favor of a more neutral facial expression. He opened is drink and took a deep swig of its contents, hoping it would help him get through this.

Clearly Heckapoo noticed his discomfort, because he could feel her send him plenty of comfort and love through the mark. His smile returned as he shook his head and gave her a thankful look. She responded with a wink and a smile. _I really am the luckiest man in the multiverse aren't I?_

He walked towards one of the couches they had in their living room and sat down, waiting for her to join them before he started this conversation. His parents were sitting on the couch to his left, holding hands as they stole awkward glances at him. _I don't think I've ever seen them this nervous before. Granted they just found out their son is actually 30 years old and suffering from PTSD._ On the couch to his right, Star was looking around the house, still with a slight blush on her face. _I guess I was right. She does have a crush on me…rather she has crush on the old Marco. She'll learn soon enough he doesn't exist anymore. Hopefully she'll be able to move on._

After a few more minutes of awkward silence as Marco finished his drink, Heckapoo finished the tea and brought the platter holding the cups and pot of tea for them freely grab from and set it on the table in between all the couches. She then joined Marco on his couch by sitting on his lap and grabbing his arms and wrapping them around her. This made Marco laugh at her adorable action and Heckapoo blush, only grabbing his arms tighter.

"Alright, well I'm going to assume Heckapoo gave you a quick run down about what happened and why I am the way that I am, both physically and mentally. Correct?" He asked as he intertwined his fingers with Heckapoo's and focused on the mark to get him through this. In response, Heckapoo gripped his fingers tights, letting him know she was there. She would always be there. He received three nods in response and some questioning looks from his actions with Heckapoo.

"Ok…well, what she probably didn't tell you is exactly what happened to me during those 16 years I was gone." His body tensed up and his grip on Heckapoo tightened, but, he did not stop talking. "As you can obviously tell from the way H-Poo and I have been acting around one another, I fell for her over the years. At the beginning, she was nothing more than obstacle I needed to overcome, but as the years went by, and as we spent more time together, I found myself thinking less about the trial, and more about her and what she meant to me."

"Mijo, how could you fall in love with her? She's the one who trapped you for 16 years! Forcing you to chase after her the whole time!" Hearing them disapprove of Heckapoo was something he had expected would happen, Heckapoo didn't seem affected by it outwardly but Marco could feel that it hurt her a little bit to be reminded that, in the end, Marco suffered because of her.

"Mom…Dad…I understand how you feel, but, what you said is simply not true. If you had paid attention to what H-Poo told you, you would know that she gave me a chance to go back home. She warned me about how long it could take, and she warned me of the dangers. I still walked through that portal of my own volition. She didn't force me to do anything." He could feel her heart lighten as he defended her. A small smile made its way onto her face as she lowered her head and stared at their intertwined hands.

"You also need to understand, she believed that I had stolen those scissors from her. She is the Forger of Dimensional Scissors and is also responsible for monitoring and regulating the opening of portals throughout the Multiverse. She had no reason to believe that I would follow behind her clones after she warned me of the risks. And once I walked through that portal, there was nothing she could do. The Trial of Heckapoo had begun, and it only ends once you've earned your scissors or when you died."

Marco looked straight at his parents when he said all of this and could see how he was breaking their hearts. It broke their hearts to see him this old already when, to them, he was but a child hours ago. It broke their hearts to hear his deep Latino voice rather than his childish high pitched one. He took a deep breath before deciding to continue to break their hearts with the truth. The truth they deserved to hear.

"You all want to believe that I'm still that 14 year old 'Safe Kid' that was scared of any and all possible dangers that the world could offer. The truth is…that Marco is gone. He is gone for good. Because if I'm being honest, I don't remember that Marco. Hell! Star had to remind me of the kind of person I used to be before I left because I didn't remember him! And…I need for you all to accept that. Or at the very least I need you to understand that. I've been through hell and back. I fought in 2 wars and travelled across dimensions. I've…killed to survive and I've killed…for money. I've loved, and I've lost. I've trusted, and I've been betrayed. I've nearly died too many times to count and after all that…I was still able to find someone as spectacular and understanding as Heckapoo. She doesn't want or expect me to change. She doesn't blame me or worship me for the atrocities I've committed. She loves me for who I am now, not for who I used to be. She understands what I've had to go through better than anyone. Most important of all, she understands me. Without her, I would have lost my mind long ago. And I'm sorry you had to hear that this way…Jackie." Throughout his speech, his parents and Star listened, and felt their hearts break as he continued to describe everything he's experienced. Their eyes widened and tears fell from their eyes when they heard that he was in not just a war, but two! And their looks softened as he explained to them what Heckapoo meant to him and just how she helped him. But, when he spoke Jackie's name at the end of all of that, their heads snapped back up and they looked towards Marco, and they saw him with a sad smile on his face as he looked forward…towards the portal. They followed his gaze and gasped when they saw Jackie and Janna standing there. Jackie had her mouth covered by her hands with tears pouring down her cheeks as Janna held herself tight and sobbed silently.

"Jackie…Janna…how long have you both been there?" Asked Star with a horrified look on her face. However, it wasn't Jackie or Janna who would answer; it was Heckapoo.

"They've been there since you questioned Marco about his feelings for me. They heard everything. I'm so sorry."

Jackie didn't respond, she couldn't. She was still trying to understand why all this was happening. Just minutes ago, she was informed by one of her best friends that her boyfriend had apparently been missing for sixteen years in the span of 8 minutes and that some messed up stuff happened to him during those 16 years causing him to have a mental breakdown before being carried off by the same fire lady that trapped him for those 16 years. And now, after she and Janna followed after them into the portal, she sees Star and Marco's parents speaking to a shirtless muscular man with the fire lady sitting on his lap in a loving embrace. Before she could speak, and ask about anything that's going on, the man speaks and that's when her world came crashing down. This man, was Marco, and he had been through hell. He had seen and committed such horrors that he didn't recognize who he used to be. He admitted that he was no longer her Marco. He was a completely different person now; a completely different person with the woman that he loved. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she could say anything. So, she did the one thing she could do.

She ran out the front door of the house and didn't look back.

 **And there you go. A cliffhanger ending! What a surprise! Please note the heavy sarcasm leaking from the very words I type. So I felt as though for a story like this, this would have been the best place to leave it be for the end of a chapter. I mean, there were multiple times earlier in the chapter that I thought would be a good cliffhanger ending for the chapter, but I felt as though this ended up working the best. Hopefully, you enjoyed this. Don't forget please review and leave suggestions for what you think I should do later on in the story. I'm more than open to suggestions. Also, don't worry, Star will still end up with Tom in the end and I'll make sure there is some form of resolution for both Janna and Jackie. I just haven't fully decided on what to do with them after they accept Marco's change. Like I stated before, I'll try to update this as fast as once a week and as slow as once a month. Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, now my goal for this chapter is simple. Marco is going to try to help give Jackie some much needed closure and a slap of reality that she isn't considering. I'm also planning to start the wheel rolling for TomStar to begin properly. The way I'm going to implement it is something I think will not only help Star deal with the loss of a friend and Tom deal with his anger issues, but it will help the Diaz's deal with the loss of their child. If that doesn't tell you what I have planned then I don't know what will. I want to get this shit out of the way and started before I begin to reveal more about Marco's experiences during the trial and what other abilities he gained during that time. That way I can easily reintroduce the other characters later down the road and show them as though they've healed a bit and made some semblance of progress. I'll try to set all of that up with this chapter, so it'll probably end up being a long one. If I don't get it all completely set up in this chapter, then the next one will wrap it up quite nicely. Don't be surprised if there are a lot of OCs in the future because that is literally the only way I'll be able to do my take on Marco's past. Alright, without further ado =, let's get this chapter started.**

Chapter 3

"Jackie!" yelled out Janna as she tried to run after her before a hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned around to yell at whoever tried to stop her but stopped herself when she noticed it was Marco, and that he had a remorseful look on his face. _How did he get up so fast? He was sitting on the couch with Heckapoo on his lap and now he's across the room?_

"Don't worry Janna, I'll get her back." He removed his robe and grabbed one of his spare leather jackets from the wall and slipped his boots on. "Honey?! Could you fetch me my axe from the armory?"

"Which one?! You have 13 of those fucking things!" the group looked around, hearing her voice but no longer seeing her in the house. Then they realized that there was another portal now to the left of the couch where Marco and Heckapoo had been sitting. "Grab the one made of Serenic Metal that's been coated in Draxyl wards! I might as well hunt us some fresh food while I'm out!" As Marco was putting on his fingerless gloves, Heckapoo was walking out of the portal carrying his axe, which surprised everyone, except Marco, due to the sheer size of the weapon. It was nearly the size of Heckapoo herself and looked to easily weigh over 70 lbs, yet, she was carrying it over her shoulder as though it were a stick. The axe itself had a beautifully dangerous design. The entire body of the axe was made from some dense black material with numerous dark red engravings etched throughout. The blade portion was over 2 feet long and 6 inches thick, with a single large black rune on each cheek of the blade. She threw the axe over to him and he caught it easily with his right hand, grinning at the feel of one of his favorite weapons.

"Oh yeah…I've missed this." He all but purred as he caressed the weapon, admiring its deadliness. Heckapoo simply smiled and shook her head at his antics as she snapped her fingers and closed the portal to the armory. _Yup, that's the idiot I know and love. I swear he is more like Haxon than he cares to admit._

"I know you've missed your weapons sweetie, but we have more pressing matters. Like a certain young human girl running through the Kassius Dimension defenseless." That snapped Marco out of his antics, making him bashfully laugh it off and scratch the back of his head. "Good point hon. I'll go on ahead with my scissors and track her down. Once I find her, I'll open a portal for you five to come through and enjoy the show." He opened up a portal and kissed Heckapoo on the forehead before jumping through with a mad grin on his face. He was in his element again. If he was lucky, maybe something strong would come out and play. Strong enough to warrant him fulling awakening.

With the portal closing behind him, Heckapoo decided to close the portal connecting them to Earth, just to make sure no random human comes by it and decides to investigate. Once she closed that portal she turned to face her guests with an awkward smile on her face. Why did Marco get to have all the fun while she dealt his friends and family.

"More tea anyone? Hehehe…." _Fuck me…._

 _With Jackie_

Jackie was currently sitting under a random barren tree, laying in the fetal position bawling her eyes out, wishing that all this was just a bad dream. That her boyfriend wasn't suddenly 30 years old and a battle-hardened veteran. That he wasn't mentally scarred by the world he was forced to live in for 16 years. That…he wasn't in love with the same woman that was, in her eyes, responsible for all of his suffering. They had only been dating for a short time but, he was so good to her. He actually cared for her. Now, just as she was starting to truly fall for him…he's out of her reach.

 _Why is life so cruel? He didn't deserve to have this happen to him! He didn't deserve to suddenly spend 16 years of his life chasing after a forger of some stupid scissors! And I don't deserve to lose him! This…this isn't fair!_ She laid there crying, hoping to never be found. Hoping to just wake up from this nightmare. Unfortunately for her, reality had other plans for her.

"Jackie!" _Wait…is that…_ She looked up and saw someone running out of a portal towards her carrying a giant axe in their right hand.

"…Marco?" She barely whispered out before noticing something about him. He was grinning. Why was he grinning? He was also getting really close really quickly and carrying that giant axe didn't make her feel any better. Thankfully, he slowed down as he got closer before coming to a full stop right in front of her, resting his axe on his shoulder. He bent down and stretched his hand out towards her.

"Come on, lets get you back inside." She began to reach for his hand, but instead of grabbing it she slapped it away and stood up, glaring at him with tears and pain in her eyes. He expected as much, and he knew that what was about to happen had to happen for her to move forward. That didn't mean that it wouldn't hurt him.

"Why?! Just tell me why?!" Her tiny hands were clenched into fists and she was now shaking in anger. He sighed and ran his left hand through his hair before looking back at her.

"Why what, Jackie? There's a lot of answers for a question so vague." He playfully replied with a hurt smile. Jackie either didn't see it or just didn't care because she was hurting so much and she wanted someone else to hurt too. And deep down, she knew he could take it.

"Why?! Why did you fall in love with the same woman who damned you! Why did you waste your life chasing after some stupid scissors?! And why didn't you come to me?!" At this point she was pounding her arms into his chest with her head down and tears crashing onto the floor. "Why…..why does it hurt so much?" She stopped hitting him and was leaning on him with her head on his chest, sobbing. Marco simply looked at the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her. After a few minutes she stopped sobbing and shaking and simply standing there, letting herself be held. She finally decided to look up at Marco, and what she saw…broke her heart.

She had wanted to make him hurt and she succeeded, boy, did she succeed because looking into those hazel of his…all she saw was his pain. His remorse. His self-hatred. He could stare into her eyes and see her pain and suffering without so much as a flinch, because, the pain he feels whenever he looks at one of them is immeasurable. All because he knows he can't be with them in the way that they need him to be. He knows he is hurting them by doing this, but, he knows that if he stayed, it would only be worse.

"M-Marco…" but before she could continue, Marco quickly picked her up and threw her towards the now present group consisting of Heckapoo, Star, Janna, and Marco's parents. Luckily, Heckapoo seemed prepared for this and had made a couple clones to help her safely catch Jackie. Before anyone could try to berate Marco for throwing Jackie for seemingly no reason, the ground beneath Marco shattered, and a large mouth, full of teeth, closed around him.

"MARCO!" yelled out the entire group as they saw him be eaten alive by a beast that was beneath the ground. Heckapoo immediately created four clones and had them from a transparent barrier surrounding the group as she ran over towards the beast, splitting her scissors in two, forming two separate small swords.

"You need to let us help!" screamed Star as she pointed her want at one of the Heckapoo clones, with the others supporting her statement. However, none of the clones budged and simply stared at them.

"Princess, no offense, but there's nothing you can possibly do to help Marco or the original. That beast over there? It's a Kassilius Terra Wyv, one of the most dangerous creatures in this entire dimension. Unfortunately for it, Wyvs are Marco's favorite prey. The original only went over there to help him so he doesn't over do it on the first day he's back in that body. Just watch and enjoy the show."

 _With Marco and Heckapoo_

Heckapoo has just reached the Wyv, and couldn't help but smirk at the prospect of fighting another one of these things with her beloved. This Wyv in particular was extremely large, probably reaching up to 150 feet in length from snout to the tip of its tail and about 40 feet in height. It was light red in color and its scales were tougher than regular Wyvs because of the very ground it had to be capable of digging through. Another unique feature was that it had 8 legs rather than the normal 4, allowing them to move much faster, both above ground and below ground. And it was now rushing straight for her, running faster than a freight train.

Heckapoo laughed and jumped over its snout before covering her swords in fire and jamming them both into its right eye. This led to the Wyv to jerk its head to the air and release a pained roar, allowing for Marco to jump out of its mouth and land on the ground below. He turned to face the beast and saw his love on top of its head, continuously stabbing its eyes before they could fully regenerate. He smirked before running towards the beast's left side and doing something he hadn't done in what felt like forever. He let loose.

He swung at its front leg with enough force to not only cut off the leg, but to force the beast over onto its right side. Heckapoo took that chance to jump off and throw a volley of fireballs at the Wyv's head before landing next to Marco. She looked and could only smile at what she saw. He was smiling, a true bloodthirsty smile. He was finally letting out all of the stress he'd been under the past few days.

"Who the fuck needs therapy when you've got Wyvs to hunt?" Marco chuckled out as he took off his jacket and created a portal and threw it into the portal and closing it. With all his muscles and scars on display, Heckapoo couldn't help but admire the view. She didn't call him Muscles for nothing.

"You might wanna calm it down there Muscles. The more you show them, the more questions they'll end up having." The Wyv was now getting back up, having regenerated from all the damage on its face, but its leg still hadn't recuperated, causing it to falter for a second in confusion. Marco simply prepared for the hunt before him.

"Let them ask their questions, I'll answer them once I'm ready. But for now, its time we prepare some dinner, don't you think H-Poo?" Before she could respond he was off, running towards the beast, prepared to seal its fate. All she could do was smile and run after him.

"Jerk. You better not kill it in a single shot this time."

The Wyv realized they were heading its way, so it opened its mouth and shot out a flood of acid towards them. Marco jumped away to the left while Heckapoo simple cut a portal in front of her and reappeared above the Wyv. As she was about to land on its back, the Wyv knocked her away with its tail, launching her back several hundred feet. Marco saw her landed badly and slide across the ground for a few dozen feet. He didn't even wait to see if she was getting before he turned to face the beast with a look of pure rage.

"I was going to take my time with you…but now that you've hurt her…I'M GOING TO COOK YOU ALIVE YOU OVERGROWN GECKO!"

 _Back with the group_

"Is she ok?!"

"You need to let us out of here and help them!"

"Please they need our help!"

"They're going to die!"

At this point, each of the clones were getting extremely irritated with the demands they kept making, with one clone even considering dropping the barrier to let them get hurt and learn a lesson. Luckily, another clone spoke up before that thought got anymore consideration.

"HEY!" she yelled getting their attention. They were now all glaring at her about to yell at her again before she held up her hand, signaling them to give her a moment to speak. "They'll both be fine. We've done this plenty of times over the years. The original just got distracted and in that moment of distraction she got hit by its tail but she'll be fine. As for Marco, I'd be more worried about the Wyv right about now since it hit her."

"And why is that? All he has is an oversized axe and amazingly developed muscles! Sure, he chopped off one of its legs but it's a huge beast! It'll kill him!" cried Jackie as she glanced back at the fight, and what she saw caused her eyes to widen. "Wait…why is he glowing red?"

At that remark everyone looked back over to the fight and saw that Marco was now calmly walking towards the beast but was now covered in a red glow almost like….

"He…"

"…has"

"…magic?!"

"Told you not to count him out just yet. There's a reason why most mercenaries, adventurers, and soldiers from at least 7 separate worlds will actively avoid fighting him, at any cost. There's a reason received a name like the Oncoming Storm." Heckapoo replied with a smile on her face and love in her eyes. _Damn he is such a turn on when he does shit like this. He better make sure he has enough energy left for me tonight._

 _Back with Marco and Heckapoo_

Marco finally decided to start showing off some his true power against the beast. It decided to hurt his love and he would not stand for that. He knew that there was little this beast could do to actually harm her, but, what kind of lover would he be if he let such attacks on her go unpunished? So he began channeling his magic into the hidden Runes on his arms and he felt something he hadn't felt in too long. He felt… **awake**.

The Runes on his arms released a red glow and his eyes went from their usual hazel to a blood red. Lightning began to crackle around each of his arms and down his axe, its Runes sharing his reddish glow. He drew his weapon back with both hands and channeled his magic into legs, jumping high up into the air towards the Wyv, the lightning around him increasing in intensity and power. The beast's instincts warned it of the danger and it began to dig back down underground to escape, however, with its front leg missing, its progress was slower than usual.

Seeing the beast trying to escape, Marco snarled at this and began his descent, now charging more of his power into his weapon, causing it to become completely encompassed in red lightning. As he fell back down he aimed for the beast's back, aiming to split it in half. With a swing of his axe down on the beast, the sound of the sky breaking could be heard for miles and all that Heckapoo and the group could see for a few seconds was a bright red flash.

When the light disappeared, Marco was crouched down on the ground with his axe imbedded in the ground. Surrounding him however, was a large crater with lightning randomly jumping around from Marco's body to the ground and back again from a different part of the crater. Next to Marco, was the beast's large tail and a hole large enough for the Wyv to escape into. Marco stared at the hole with a frown on his face before breaking out into a grin and turning to face Heckapoo.

"H-Poo! Remember how clone #283 took care of the vandal scourge heading for the village on the Plains of the Shivering Winds?" He yelled out to her as he created a portal to his right which led to another portal that opened up a few thousand feet in the air. She simply grinned in response as she put he scissors back together and began channeling her magic into her hands.

"How deep and when?"

"400 feet right below me and as soon as I step into this portal. Time to cook this fucker."

 _Back with the group_

The Heckapoo clones widened their eyes immediately when they saw Marco create a portal and sensed the original channel a large portion of her magic. They thanked the fact that they were so far away from them because if they were caught in what was about to happen, the barrier wouldn't hold.

"Ah shit…they're about to overdo it aren't they?" said one of the clones, gaining the attention of the rest of the group.

"Yeah…I'm starting to feel bad for that Wyv. Luckily for it, it'll be a relatively quick death." Replied another clone with a smirk on her face, shaking her head in amusement at the situation that was about to unfold.

"Heckapoo, what do you mean by that? And better yet, how does Marco have magic?! I thought humans didn't have any magic of their own?" questioned Star as she saw the results of Marco's lightning magic on the beast, not understanding how he could be so powerful. Was this man really Marco? Was he even still human anymore.

"You're not wrong there, Princess. But, as we both know, Marco isn't exactly normal for a human, is he? Besides, that's his story to tell, not mine. Now, I would recommend looking forward because this the original and Marco are about to end this hunt with quite the fireworks display."

With that said everyone, once again turned to face towards the fight, wondering exactly what she meant by that.

 _Back with Marco and Heckapoo_

Marco quickly embedded his axe into the ground and crossed his arms in front of him, focusing his magic into the runes on his arms, regaining the powerful red glow from before along with the lightning encircling his arms before being focused out his hands into an orb of pure lightning magic. He then uncrossed his arms, opened his eyes, and with his right arm, he clenched his fist but stuck out his index and middle finger together, and raised his arm upwards towards the sky, where the orb followed and disappeared into the sky.

Then, after releasing a breath, he picked up his axe and wiped the sweat from his forehead and grinned at Heckapoo. She grinned back and pushed her magic out of her hands and into the ground below as soon as he stepped into the portal. _Looks like we're having barbecue Wyv for dinner for a while._

At first it seemed as though Heckapoo had done nothing, but within a matter of seconds a rumbling in the ground could be felt before the entire ground exploded in an eruption of magma launching the Wyv up into the air while weakening its outer scales. She looked up at the sky and smiled when the sky itself glowed red with lightning. _Go get him Muscles_.

Marco had been falling in the air for a while preparing his next strike while Heckapoo launched the Wyv towards him. As he heard the thunder behind him, he grinned knowing that one of his favorite spells was ready. He pointed his axe behind him, towards the sky and prepared to speak the name of his spell as he approached the beast. A mere 10 feet away from the Wyv, Marco spoke the name of the spell entire armies feared. The spell that helped end the first war he was in.

"Heaven's Final Judgement"

The clouds above him released the stored energy from before that had been accumulating from before along with the natural energy from the atmosphere and magic laced within the very air they breathed. The pure white lightning bolt connected with Marco's axe and in an instant, he swung at the beast's head. And then the world went white.

Heckapoo had portalled herself away from the blast, knowing that she couldn't conjure up a strong enough barrier fast enough to get out of that uninjured. As soon as the light died away, the clones dropped their barrier and blew each other's flames out and the group ran towards the explosion site, hoping Marco was ok. When they reached where the explosion was they saw the roasted corpse of the Wyv, steam still coming off it and pieces of flesh sliding off the bone. If that's what happened to the beast, what happened to Marco?

"Yuuuuummmm….all its missing is some Underworld Pepper Marinade. Nom Nom Nom." They could hear his voice coming from the other side of the corpse so they all ran on over to find him sitting down, with his legs crossed using his axe to cut off pieces of meat and feeding some to Heckapoo who was laying down next to him with her head in his lap currently chewing on a piece. Marco heard their footsteps and turned to face them, He simply raised his right arm and waved.

"Yo. Want some?" He said with a grin on his face as he offered them some meat. Understandably, they all respectfully declined, to which Marco simply shrugged and simply started to throw slices of meat into a small portal next to him. "So, what did you guys think?"

"What did we think?" asked a rather shocked Angie Diaz, looking from her son to the remains of the beast and to the scorched ground they were standing on. "That…that was insane mijo! You could have died! You could have hurt Jackie! This thing was the size of an apartment complex and yet you were more than happy enough to run towards it and fight it! What were you thinking?!" Everyone but Marco and Heckapoo nodded at her response and looked at him with disapproving looks. Marco simply sighed and began to stand up, slightly upsetting Heckapoo since she was forced off her pillow. He cracked his neck and looked at them with an exasperated look on his face.

"First, even if I were fighting that thing alone there's no way it would've been able to kill me. Second, I had to get Jackie out of there quickly, so she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire and I knew Heckapoo would catch her. Third, yea, the Wyv was large but you're assuming that the threat it could pose to me directly correlated with its size, which is wrong. And yes, I was more than happy enough to go and fight it. You all need to realize that this," motioning towards the corpse, "is what I've had to deal with for over a decade and a half. For me, this is the norm. Hell, for me this is grocery shopping. Now we have food stocked up in at least 7 different safe houses, each one now stocked up with several days' worth of Wyv meat. And as we speak, Heckapoo's clones are properly removing parts of its corpse so that I can work with it and make some weapons and armor to either use or sell. Now usually, I leave the body more intact but the Wyv made the mistake of hurting H-Poo so I decided to vent my anger on it."

His callous response only served to upset his parents more and worrying the girls at hearing the fact that this was just his way of making some extra cash. However, it suddenly dawned on Star that she almost forgot to ask him what was quite possibly the most important question.

"Marco, how do you have magic?" That simple question caused everyone's eyes to widen and look back at him, honestly curious as to how he was capable of controlling and creating his very own lightning. Marco chuckled and channeled a small amount of magic into his arms, enough to simply light up the Runes on his arms. They extended from the back of his hands all the way up to his shoulders and were complex in design. They all marveled at the intricacy of the Runes and Star could feel the power coming off of them.

"These Runes were a special tattoo job I got from the Elemental Scholars of Nodulus Prime. They use magic conducting ink with my own blood as a base to ensure they never fade. All that was left was to channel my magic through them to find out what element my soul best controlled. Also, I have magic of my own because certain events that occurred during the first few years I was in the trial. I'm…I'm just not ready yet to talk about that." They all looked like they wanted to push the matter, but, they all chose not to after hearing the way Marco's tone changed when he refused to explain the origin of his magic. They would simply have to trust him to explain it to them eventually down the road.

Thankful that they didn't push him on the matter, Marco picked up his axe and rested it on his shoulder while he grabbed his scissors out of his pocket and created two portals right next to each other. Then he turned back to face the group and scratched the back of his head.

"Alright, well I've created two portals here. The one on the right leads back to Earth, more specifically back to the backyard of the house. The left one leads to the Royal Castle on Mewni, specifically the Magic High Council's meeting room. My parents, Star, H-Poo and I will be heading there, while you two -motioned to Jackie and Janna- will be heading back to your homes. You've both been through a lot today and I doubt there's anything I could really do to help either of you. It would probably better for you both to simply head home and try to forget about what happened." He said as he avoided looking at either of the two young girls, still feeling guilty over the trauma they both just went through that day.

"Wait. Why are we going to Mewni? And should they go home? It's not like anyone there could help them with this! They're better off staying with us! Besides I doubt this will take long enough for their parents to worry about where they are. At the very least, let them choose whether or not they go home!" Star angrily spit out as she defended her friends. She knew they might want to stay and seek comfort from them as a group rather than try to deal with this on their own. Both Mr. and Mrs. Diaz agreed with her and put their hands on the girls' shoulders to give them their support.

Marco simply sighed and rubbed his head with his free hand. He really didn't want to deal with all of this right now, but he knew the sooner they figured this out the better. His parent's might be disappointed and hurt by this, but it was the best course of action that he could think of. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he ended up seriously hurting them. Same with Star, Janna, and Jackie. He knew they deserved better than what he could do for them right now, but this was all he could do to make sure he didn't hurt them.

"Fine! Do you two want to go to Mewni with us or do you want to go home?" They both grabbed one of Star's hands tightly signifying where they wanted to go. "Alright then, Mewni it is. We will be in Mewni for at most a couple hours settling some things with the Queen and the King and a 3rd party. Now, even though what we will be discussing does directly affect all of you, I need you all to be quiet during our meeting unless you're spoken to. I don't need any interruptions from any of you while I try to straighten things out with them. Am I understood?" They all frowned in disapproval but nodded in reluctant agreement anyways, doing what they could to not get on his bad side. Marco, seeing them agree, closed the portal leading to Earth and was about to walk through the portal to Mewni when he realized something.

"I should probably put on a shirt, huh?" he asked seemingly no one with an embarrassed laugh. This just caused everyone but Heckapoo to facepalm at his sudden shift from complete maturity to childish forgetfulness. Heckapoo simply jumped on him from behind and caressed his pecs with a smirk on her face.

"I sure don't mind if you go like this, Muscles" she purred out as her flame started dancing around a top her head in the shape of a heart. Marco chuckled at her antics while the girls blushed at her remark, once again trying their best not to be caught staring at his extremely well-developed muscles. His parents however frowned at Heckapoo's display of affection towards their son. They still didn't feel as though she could be trusted and were going to be keeping their eyes on her. "Oh, I know you don't mind _amor_ , but I should at least try to look presentable." With a huff, Heckapoo got off his back and made a portal and pulled out his Magma Wyv Hide cloak for him to wear. When he wore it, it reached down to his shins and was kept open in the front, still showing off his abs. The design of the cloak gave the appearance of black dragon scales with what seemed to be thin streams of magma flowing in between each scale.

"Awww, you grabbed my favorite one! It totally didn't have to do with the fact that you can still see my muscles with it on." Marco teased her causing her to blush bright red and her to flame to jump a little. Without another word she kicked him through the portal to Mewni and motioned for everyone else to follow with her blush still present.

 _In the Magic High Council meeting room_

"….now that we've reached an agreement, I do believe we can consider this meeting adjourned. We shall meet up again in….Heckapoo, why is there a portal in the council room? More importantly how did someone even open a portal in the castle!? You said only your own scissors have access to directly portalling into the castle!" Immediately, Omnitraxus went from his orb to his larger bodied form preparing for an invasion, Rhombulus was 'menacingly' pointing his snake arms towards the portal, Moon focused her magic into her hands and aimed towards the portal, and Heckapoo simply moved to the front of the portal without a care in the world.

"Calm down you guys, its not an invasion, I know exactly who it is and they aren't here to fight." The first thing to come out of the portal was a muscular man dressed in torn black pants and a strange cloak and he simply fell on his face groaning. Following behind him were the Diaz parents, Star and her friends, and….Heckapoo? Before they could ask about the second Heckapoo, the man got up and smirked at the Heckapoo in front of him and blew her flame out, extinguishing the clone.

"Ah just like old times."

"Wait, that was a clone! Heckapoo! What have we told you about having your clones attend these meetings!" Moon reprimanded her causing her to scratch the back of her head and laugh in embarrassment while Marco simply basked in her suffering at her expense. "Star? Mr. and Mrs. Diaz? What are you and Star's friends doing here with Heckapoo and this stranger?"

"Told ya she wouldn't recognize me! Now pay up!" Marco smiled as Heckapoo groaned as she dug through her dress and pulled out a shard of metal before tossing it towards Marco. After catching it, Marco pulled a pouch from within his coat and placed the shard in there before placing it back into his cloak.

"Ok, could someone please explain what is going on here before Rhombulus randomly decides this man is evil and tries to crystallize him?" asked Omnitraxus as he reverted back into his orb, trusting in Heckapoo's judgement that none of them were a threat. Rhombulus looked taken aback at the snide comment but couldn't find it in himself to try to defend himself knowing he did often wrongly accuse others of being evil.

"Alright I'll give you all the quick run down but no interruptions so that we can get this done and get on with what we came here for." Stated Heckapoo exasperatedly considering this was the second time this day that she had to go through this explanation. That and she would probably be needlessly reprimanded by Moon for doing her very job and justifiably thinking that Marco had stolen her scissors. While Heckapoo was explaining the situation to the council, Marco's parents moved closer to Marco and got his attention.

"Mijo? How is it that you're still in your older body? When you came back to our world from the first time going to Heckapoo's dimension you were in your normal body but now you're still in your older body despite leaving her dimension." Inquired Marco's father as looked over his son and saw all of his scars on his visible chest and calloused hands. Angie moved to grab one of his hands and feel the age and experience of those hands.

"Oh? Well H-Poo actually told me earlier and that last dimension we were in wasn't actually Heckapoo's dimension, it was a completely different dimension. While I was resting and her clones were giving you guys the run down, she used her magic to put me in my older form and I am actually capable of changing back and forth. Apparently, she left a Rune on the lower base of my spine and that's what allows me to switch between the two forms at will. Currently, I am using a small constant flow of magic to keep the seal active and me in this body, if I didn't, then I would revert back to my younger body because of how this dimension's timeline is essentially the same as the Earth's timeline. The same would be true vice versa. If we were in Heckapoo's dimension and I channeled magic into the Rune, then I would be in my younger body. She thought it was best for me to have this option because I'm realistically 30 years old and it isn't great on my psychological state to be in the body of child for long periods of time." He explained as he felt slightly uncomfortable at his parents inspecting his adult form in a finer light. He could feel their pain with each scar they found. He was just glad they couldn't see his back at the moment. There were some scars that he definitely wasn't proud of. There were parts of his past that he didn't think they could ever handle finding out about. Those scars were a part of that.

"Marco?" His mother started as she avoided looking him in the eyes and settled for feeling the scars on his chest with fresh tears in her eyes. Many of the scars that were readily visible looked like large puncture wounds from something biting down on him along with a few claw scars at his abdomen.

"…." Marco simply stayed silent as he looked down at the top of his mother's head, feeling her pain at seeing his scarred body. He knew what she was going to ask him and he knew that any answer he gave her would only serve to hurt her more, but lying to her wouldn't work. Not if he wanted to keep a semblance of trust between them as a family. He owed them that much at least.

"How long have you had these scars? And….how did you get them?" she managed to get out without sobbing but it was clear now that she was visibly shaking. He sighed and opened up the front of his cloak, just enough to give a decent view to both his parents, the girls, and to the council members, all of whom widened their eyes in surprise and slight horror at seeing how covered in scars his body was.

"These puncture mark scars extending from my upper left shoulder to my lower abdomen were from a hydra that tried to eat me when I was 23 years old. It took me by surprise and had the upper portion of my body inside of its mouth with its teeth digging into me. Luckily, I had a sword in my hand and I was able to kill it by jamming my sword into the top part of its mouth into its brain and then frying it with electricity for good measure. I was under mandatory recovery for several weeks at the order of my commanding general. Man, was she pissed…..These lower claw scars on my abdomen were from a Undarian warrior that had used some forbidden magic to increase his strength, speed, and spatial awareness but at the loss of his own mind. He got a few good hits on me before we could finally put him down. This was a little earlier, probably when I was like 19 or 20 years old. He wasn't my first kill and he sure as hell wasn't my last. But despite the pain I received from all these wounds, I wouldn't want to take any of it back. Without them, I might not have become the man I am today, I might not have been with the woman I am with today." The last part he said looking directly at Heckapoo with a loving look in his eyes, causing her to smile and blush at his gaze. This shocked the members of the council because they had never seen Heckapoo so flustered in all their time knowing her. Marco's explanation of his scars unsettled everyone in the room, and caused Angie to embrace her husband for support, despite him not fairing much better. The girls were silent for the most part, with Star crying silent tears, still blaming herself for what happened to Marco, and Jackie and Janna feeling pangs of guilt, not considering how Marco must have felt throughout his time during the trial, not knowing if he would survive or not.

"I know this is hard for all of you to process, but I want all of you to understand, especially you Star. None of this was any of your guy's fault. Nothing any of you did led me to do this. I chose to follow through with the trials. It was all my choice and anything that happened during those trials and anything that I suffered was my fault. I accepted that long ago, I suggest you all do the same." Since everyone was clearly feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the conversation that was going on, Moon decided to try to draw attention away from it. She coughed into her hand and successfully drew attention away from the previous conversation.

"Ahem…so just to make sure that I have this right, several days ago from our perspective, Heckapoo noticed Marco creating an absurd amount of portals with her scissors that she had misplaced, rightfully considered him to be a thief, and then threatened him with a trial, one of her hardest trials by the way, in order to scare him off. However, instead of being scared off, Marco went through her trial for 16 years, during which he went through an insurmountable amount of ordeals to dispel each and every one of her clones, and finally earned his own pair of scissors. Then Star showed up and convinced him to go back to Earth where he then suffered a panic attack earlier today causing him to feel threatened and nearly attack you three before Heckapoo stepped in, calmed him down, and brought him to a safe house while she had some clones explain the situation to you three. Then, in the dimension of that safe house he saved young Ms. Jackie over here from a Wyv and proceeded to kill it with minimal assistance from Heckapoo. Did I get all that right?"

"Well, H-Poo did more than just some minimal assistance hehehe….If it wasn't for her, I would have had to try a lot harder." Marco said with an awkward laugh trying to help relax the atmosphere of the room. In response to his comment, Heckapoo ran over to him, jumped and smacked him so hard in the back of the head that it knocked him face first into the floor with the back of his singed.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT IN FRONT OF THEM!" she yelled with a blush on her face as she pointed towards Rhombulus and Omnitraxus. She didn't want them having any blackmail or teasing material over her and that nickname definitely fell in that category. Unfortunately it was too late as both of them had heard him call her H-Poo and their mouths simply hung open, or at least Omnitraxus' mouth did, Rhombulus simply looked surprised with his singular eye. His snake arms did have their mouths hanging open in surprise though.

"Did….Did he just c-call you"

"SHUT UP! I'LL BURN YOU ALIVE FOR MONTHS ON END IF YOU CALL ME THAT! ONLY HE IS ALLOWED TO CALL ME THAT!" she yelled at Omnitraxus and Rhombulus with her flame burning violently and the room increasing in temperature. In order to ensure their survival, the snake arms wrapped around Rhombulus' crystal head and Omnitraxus' orb to make sure they stayed quiet. Before she could continue to drive her threats home, Marco appeared from behind her and wrapped his arms around her kissing her neck. She immediately blushed and bit her lower lip to keep herself from making a noise she'd regret in front of so many people.

"Aww my little H-Poo is embarrassed by the nickname I gave her. Maybe I should stop using it?" he teased her as he began to pull away from her, but instead she turned around and hugged him, hiding her face in his chest to hide her embarrassment, but her pulsing flame on top of her head gave it away.

"P-please don't. I like it when you c-call me that." She said so quietly that only he could hear. He smiled and kissed the top of her head, deciding that she had had enough teasing for one council meeting. He couldn't help teasing her so much, she was just so damn cute when she got flustered!

"Alright, that's enough fooling around. Time for me to explain what we're doing here." He then directed his attention to Queen Moon and then to his parents and then finally to Star. He sighed before finally getting on with the worst part of his plan. _This is going to suck._

"Star is going to need a new protector on Earth because….I won't be going back to Earth after this."

 **And BOOM another cliffhanger. You're welcome. Originally I had planned to make this chapter another 2-3K words longer, but I felt as though this chapter had been stretched out far enough and that if I tried to make it any longer, it would just lose momentum and feel forced. So this chapter ends here with Marco announcing his intentions or lack thereof with accordance to returning to Earth. What are his reasons? What will he do instead? Who will be Star's new protector? Where will she stay? I'm pretty sure most if not all of you are smart enough to figure that out considering there is no lack of hints within the summary of the story and the announcement at the top of this chapter. So without further ado, thank you for reading this chapter and please leave a review. Until the next one.**


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